Ellmann become one of the most important volunteers in McHenry County, having successfully spearheaded volunteer efforts for the county's Habitat for Humanity chapter.

Ellmann is now turning his attention to the Pioneer Center, another of the county's agencies serving the needy. His goal is to establish teams of volunteers to work with Pioneer's paid staff, assisting clients living in the center's nine group homes spread around the county.

"I don't want more volunteers than I can handle," Ellmann said, "I need dedicated men and women who will assist our clients with day-to-day problems."

Ellmann has already put together one team as something of a pilot program, testing and refining the lessons he learned through his involvement with Habitat. The team has been such a success, he's already focusing on establishing another.

"One of the things I've learned is to go for quality, not quantity," said Ellmann.

"Go slow and establish a solid, workable program that can be implemented step-by-step. The things I've learned from Habitat are really paying off," he said.

"We need volunteers because funding is short," said Connee Meschini, Pioneer's executive director. "I can't thank him enough for his energy and dedication to this job."

Lamenting the shortage of volunteerism, Ellmann thinks part of the fault lies with how the people are recruited.

"You can't have a volunteer come in and not have something to do. They'll just feel they're wasting their time and look for something else," he said.

Ellmann plans to continue as an unpaid recruiter, a task he clearly enjoys, despite--or because of--the fact that it poses a great challenge.

"In order to do this, you have to be a salesman, a preacher, a lot of things," he said. "But it keeps me active. It's good exercise for the mind."